Actual socialist Bernie Sanders: No, Obama is not a socialist

Speaking to talk show host Bill Moyers this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who self-identifies as a Democratic socialist, explained that no matter how many times Republicans say it, President Barack Obama is not a socialist as well.

Democratic socialism (PDF), he explained, “means that health care should be a right of all people,” he said. “That higher education should be a right, kids shouldn’t graduate $50,000 in debt. Which means we should pass legislation that represents the interests of working families and not the moneyed interests. Which means that we should be aggressive at global warming and protecting the environment for future generations. Which means workers earn a decent wage. All of these ideas which people have talked about from Eugene Debs on.”

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So Moyers asked him directly: “The right says that Obama’s a socialist — they keep calling him a socialist — can you prove he’s not a socialist?”

“Can I prove he’s not a socialist? Yes,” Sanders replied. “Look at his record. He is not a socialist.”

Sanders went on to warn Moyers that the “distribution of wealth” in the U.S. has begun to overwhelm the political system, with billionaire families dumping hundreds of millions of dollars into elections in an effort to, as Sanders said, “create a more unfair America.”

This video is from “Moyers & Company,” published Friday, Sept. 7, 2012.

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About the Author

Stephen C. Webster is the senior editor of Raw Story, and is based out of Austin, Texas. He previously worked as the associate editor of The Lone Star Iconoclast in Crawford, Texas, where he covered state politics and the peace movement’s resurgence at the start of the Iraq war. Webster has also contributed to publications such as True/Slant, Austin Monthly, The Dallas Business Journal, The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Weekly, The News Connection and others. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenCWebster.